Summer 2013
State Proposes New Japanese Beetle Quarantine The Japanese beetle (JB), Popillia japonica Newman, is an exotic pest that is highly destructive to turf grasses as well as hundreds of species of fruit trees, ornamentals, shrubs, and field and vegetable crops. Japanese beetle adults are small beetles, smaller than a dime, and are copper and metallic green in color with white tufts of hair one the sides and rear of their bodies. The larvae feed in the soil under turf grasses throughout the winter and spring and emerge as adults in mid to late summer, as late as the middle of September in Montana. The Japanese beetle was first introduced into the United States in 1916 and all states east of the Mississippi River are considered infested with this pest. Efforts to control the larval and adult stages are estimated to cost more than $460 million per year. Losses attributed to the larval stage alone, which cause significant damage to turf grasses, have been estimated at $234 million per year. This cost includes $78 million for control costs but an additional cost of $156 million to replace damaged turfs including lawns, golf course, and park grasses. Over time, and through its spread via commerce the Japanese beetle has been found in several isolated locations throughout the Western United States. Unfortunately, the Japanese beetle was first reported in Montana in 2001 in the area around Billings Logan International Airport in Yellowstone County. A subsequent monitoring and eradication effort has been an ongoing cooperative project of the US Department of Agriculture-Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), the Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA), Montana State University-Billings, and local
homeowners. Japanese beetle adults have been detected in the Billings area every year since 2001, with the majority of positive traps found in a roughly four city block area. In 2008, the Montana Department of Agriculture adopted a regulated area covering part of Yellowstone County to prevent the artificial spread of this pest within Montana. In 2007, Japanese beetles were found in Lake County, the first incidence outside of the Billings area.
on the Department website at: http:// agr.mt.gov/agr/About/ARMchanges/ pdf/JBquarDraft212.pdf The Department held a public hearing on July 11, 2013 at 2:00 p.m., in Room 225 of the Scott Hart Building, at Helena, Montana. Concerned persons submitted their data, views, or arguments either orally or in writing at the hearing. Written data, views, or arguments may still be submitted to: Cort Jensen, Department of Agriculture, 302 N Roberts, Helena,Montana, 59601; telephone (406) 444-3144; fax (406) 444-5409; or e-mail cojensen@mt.gov, and must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., July 22, 2013.
In 2007, Japanese beetles were found in Lake County, the first incidence outside of the Billings area. Subsequently, Japanese beetles were detected in traps in Flathead County in 2009 and 2012. These detections of Japanese beetle are likely related to the movement of nursery stock into western Montana. The previous version of the Montana Exterior Japanese Beetle Quarantine was repealed in 2009 as the state adopted the importation requirements contained within the National Plant Board “Japanese Beetle Harmonization Plan�. Recent detections of the pest in Montana indicated that the current regulations are not providing sufficient protection for our State. The proposed quarantine language is available
The Department will be placing Japanese beetle traps at over 125 nursery location in 2013 to monitor the pests association with incoming nursery stock. The exclusion of this potentially destructive pest in Montana will continue to be a cooperative effort between federal, state, and local governments, as well as landowners, businesses, and residents of Montana. If you see suspected Japanese beetle adults please attempt to capture the beetles in a small plastic container or glass jar and deliver it to your local county extension agent or the Montana Department of Agriculture.